How was your week, friends? I was on Twin Cities Live talking about what to do with your tax refund – if you were lucky enough to get one! I promise my suggestions aren’t as dry and joy-less as you’d think! We hosted Passover this year and were excited to serve the meal on Kenny’s great-grandmother’s fine china; I love traditions like that.

Links for you!

This week I learned that worldwide, the equivalent of almost 27,000 trees is either flushed or dumped in landfills every day in the form of toilet paper. We decided to switch to Bim Bam Boo which is made from bamboo – which grows much faster than trees, making it much more environmentally-friendly. Now, you’re not going to confuse it with your tripled quilted Downy or anything but it’s fine! You can order it online but it’s a Minneapolis company, so if you live in MSP like me, you can probably find it in your local grocery store!

I went to grad school in Wellington, New Zealand – an amazing city that doesn’t get enough love online. This apartment tour of a Wellington apartment is great; I know exactly where they are based on the view from their windows!

Also: If you’re an author, I highly recommend watching Laura Jane William’s Instagram Stories. They’re always great, but right now she’s promoting her new novel and she’s doing it in such a lovely, interesting, educational, non-pushy way. Let’s all learn from her!

A gorgeous essay: Notre Dame will rebuild. I will too.Notre Dame was on fire, and I desperately want to talk to Jamie about it. Instead, I’m reminded once more that we can’t control things — no matter how hard we try or how much we believe. We can and should plan for the best, but we can never fully protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our loved places from the worst. At some point, we have to let go.

Jamie’s death gave me plenty of reasons not to revisit Paris. But I did anyway. Our promise to return continued on — albeit in a very different way than we hoped — and served to remind me how resilient I am. And just like they have many times before, Parisians will once again prove their resilience in the weeks and months of rebuilding to come.

One of my favorite foods when I lived in Taiwan was dan bing. It is SO GOOD and I have no idea why it hasn’t reached cream cheese wanton status here in the U.S. Here’s how to make your own if you’re curious!

Fun fact about me: I love bats. If you’re skeptical, look at this Flying Fox. She looks just like our rat terrier/chihuahua!

I don’t drink much – only if I’m on vacation, I’m celebrating something big, or we’re at a supper club and I’d be remiss if I didn’t sample their Old Fashioned. What are your thoughts on the rise of elective sobriety?“I used to think I lost my social anxiety after I had the first drink,” says Joy Manning, one of the party’s co-hosts. “Now I realize, the first 15 minutes of anything is just awkward. Once I adjust to the environment and start chatting with someone, I relax. And it’s amazing to see that happen across a whole room of people who aren’t drinking. We’ve been giving alcohol a power it doesn’t really have.”

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

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I quit drinking on New Year’s Eve as an experiment. I’ve been having health problems and wanted to figure out if any of them would get better, especially sleep patterns. Here are the things I’ve noticed: health problems are the same, no improvement; sleep is the same, except I’m more awake when I go to bed. The only good thing is that I’m sober all the time. That frees up a lot of brain space–Can I drive? Do I need to stop at the store for beer or wine? I’ll continue because I like having that brain space back.